A limited vocabulary indicates limited ideas.  If one is limited to awfully in order to express a superlative; if his use of adjectives is restricted to nice, jolly, lovely, and elegant; if he must always abominate and never abhor, detest, dislike, or loathe; if he can only adore and not admire, respect, revere, or venerate,—­then he has failed, indeed, to know the possibilities and beauties of English.  Such a language habit shows a mind that has failed to distinguish between ideas.  The best way to study the shades of meaning and the choice of words is in the actual production of a theme wherein there is need to bring out these differences in meaning by the use of words; but some help may be gained from a formal study of synonyms and antonyms and of the distinction in use and meaning between words which are commonly confused with each other.  For this purpose such exercises are given in the Appendix.

+22.  Choice of Words.+—­Even though our words may express the proper meaning, the effect may not be a desirable one unless we use words suited to the occasion described and to the person writing.  Pupils of high school age know the meaning of many words which are too “bookish” for daily use by them.  Edward Everett Hale might use expressions which would not be suitable for a freshman’s composition.  Taste and good judgment will help you to avoid the unsuitable or grandiloquent.

The proper selection of words not only implies that we shall avoid the wrong word, but also that we shall choose the right one.  A suitable adjective may give a clearer image than is expressed by a whole sentence; a single verb may tell better how some one acted than can be told by a lengthy explanation.  Since narration has to do with action, we need in story telling to be especially careful in our choice of verbs.

What can you say of the suitability of the words in the following selection, taken from an old school reader?

Mrs. Lismore. You are quite breathless, Charles; where have you been running so violently?

Charles. From the poultry yard, mamma, where I have been diverting myself with the bravado of the old gander.  I did not observe him till he came toward me very fiercely, when, to induce him to pursue me, I ran from him.  He followed, till, supposing he had beaten me, he returned to the geese, who appeared to receive him with acclamations of joy, cackling very loud, and seeming actually to laugh, and to enjoy the triumph of their gallant chief.

Emma. I wish I had been with you, Charles; I have often admired the gambols of these beautiful birds, and wondered how they came by the appellation of silly, which is generally bestowed on them.  I remember Martha, our nursery maid, used often to call me a silly goose.  How came they to deserve that term, mamma? they appear to me to have as much intelligence as any of the feathered tribe.